Tamika Catchings talks Lady Vols season, Pat Summitt, Final Four

Tamika Catchings helps B’Lana Perry with her ball handling at Woodland Elementary School in Oak Ridge on Monday, December 8, 2015. Catchings was at the school to promote Champions for America’s Future’s report regarding the importance physical education in schools. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL) B’Lana Perry

Although Tamika Catchings has logged 18 years of doing basketball camps, the Tennessee Lady Vols legend has never conducted an event quite like the clinic she staged Saturday at the Regal Entertainment Teen Center.

Among the approximately 60 campers were 10 to 12 who were hearing impaired. In that sense, they were just like Catchings, who was a patient at UT's Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology while in school. The department helped host the event, which was born from a fund-raising dinner Catchings attended in Knoxville last October.

"Hey, I'm a professional athlete, I'm a role model and all of that but I started where (they) started," Catchings said. "So really kind of giving them hope and to be able to see and touch somebody that's just like them."

Catchings overcame hearing impairment in both of her ears to not only become a collegiate All-American but also an all-star with the WNBA's Indiana Fever and a four-time Olympic Gold Medalist.

"Sports was my avenue of getting away from the bullying, getting away from getting made fun of, getting away from being different," she said. "It made me fit in."

Along with the clinic, Catchings broached some other basketball-related topics:

Lady Vols season

Catchings attended a team practice in early January, when UT was undefeated. She said the team "was like a breath of fresh air to watch."

The Lady Vols went 10-8 during the latter portion of the season, finishing 25-8. They were knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the second round for a second consecutive season, losing at home in the tournament for the first time in 58 games.

"I think the tough part for any Tennessee team is that the expectations are to always win a championship," she said. "Because we haven't made it back to that, everybody looks at every season as a failure."

Given her nature, Catchings focused more on the experience gained by Lady Vols freshmen Rennia Davis, Evina Westbrook and Anastasia Hayes. Davis and Westbrook were starters throughout the season and Hayes played a key role off the bench.

"Those freshmen who had to play like seniors, now they have that experience," Catchings said. "So next season, the expectation is high for them."

Pat Summitt

Catchings told a clinic volunteer that she visited Pat beforehand, referencing the statue of UT's former women's basketball coach across from Thompson-Boling Arena.

Catchings played her entire UT career for Summitt, who stepped down after the 2011-12 season because of Alzheimer's disease. Summitt died in 2016.

"I think that every single day, in everything that I do, even the clinics that I do, is a reflection of Pat Summitt and who she is," Catchings said. "I'm a part of her legacy."

Women's Final Four

Two national semifinal overtime games and two dramatic game-winning shots by Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale added up to an "awesome" boost for the sport, Catchings said.

"How many people outside of the normal basketball demographic were watching those games?" Catchings said. "How many people tweeted about it and posted (on social media) about it. I think that's important."